Behind the Scenes of Apple Semiconductor’s US Growth Effort
Apple has stepped up its push to expand manufacturing in the United States, and this week the company is taking a closer look at how its chips go from raw silicon to finished devices. This effort also includes plans to manufacture smaller Mac mini models in the US, as well as deep investments in domestic chip-making partners.
The move reflects a broader strategy to strengthen Apple’s domestic sales, especially at a time when semiconductor production remains heavily concentrated in Asia. Apple designs its chips in the US, but most manufacturing still takes place overseas.
I The Wall Street Journal reported on the effort after visiting several of Apple’s partner facilities across the country, offering rare behind-the-scenes details on how the US chip supply chain begins.
From Silicon to Wafers in Texas
The supply chain begins at GlobalWafers America in Sherman, Texas, where pure silicon wafers are turned into 12-inch wafers that later hold billions of transistors. Engineers melt rock at 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit inside a 35-foot-tall crystal puller, which grows cylindrical silicon ingots weighing hundreds of pounds. Workers then cut these logs into small wafers, cool them, inspect them, and prepare them to be sent to the next stage.
Within manufacturing plants, high-performance systems travel by wafer between machines on tracks similar to a subway network. These systems handle the bulk of the work, which explains why there are relatively few workers in the industry.
As Rolfe Winkler writes:
“I didn’t see a lot of workers in these facilities. Making chips is very automated. The US is not trying to revive this industry because it will improve employment. It is doing this to address a strategic risk, and that needs to work competitively.”
His comments highlight that automation is driving modern semiconductor production and that competition, not job volume, is shaping the policy push.
Advanced Chip Fabrication in Arizona
The next phase takes place at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s facility in Arizona. There, engineers use ultra-violet lithography machines that cost $400 million each to imprint complex patterns on wafers. These machines fire lasers into molten tin to generate EUV light and project chip designs with extreme precision.
The Arizona plant produces Apple’s A16 chips, which power devices like the iPhone 15 and the entry-level iPad. However, more advanced chips like the A19 still rely on manufacturing in Taiwan, and packaging often takes place in Asia.
Final Meeting in Houston
The final phase, known as FATP, takes place at the Foxconn facility in Houston. Employees meet and test Apple’s servers, and Apple plans to expand the site to produce smaller Mac desktops. This phase involves more hands-on work compared to chip-making, although Houston’s operations remain small compared to Asia’s larger facilities.
Together, these sites show how Apple and its partners are rebuilding parts of the US chip supply chain. The effort remains much smaller than the established ecosystem in Asia, but it marks a tangible change in the domestic production of some Apple products.
